This Trailer is identical to the original BeCool Trailer other than the stickers, and now comes with the trailer/launcher accessory from Bot Shots redecoed in blue with red stripes. While the vehicle mode sticker in his chest remains, the hand-holding and sleeping ones have been replaced by pictures of the launcher: one in base mode and one in trailer mode. He also comes with a sticker sheet for decorating the Trailer Base.
He’s continued to be lovable through many different continuities, all the way to the current live-action film series. But as much as you love him, there may be a few things you don’t know about him. So let’s take a look at some of his strange real-world facts, storyline goofiness, pop-culture tie-ins and even his relationship to Back to the Future.

The real selling point of the toy, however, is the colossal Omega Combat Armor. Optimus' trailer transforms into nearly two feet of limb extensions, armor, and wings. The armor remains completely integrated (except for the Ultimax Super Cannon) during transformation, with no partsforming, although this renders the final power-up robot mode somewhat limited in articulation, having no leg articulation whatsoever aside from swinging the hips out slightly and twisting at the ankles for maximum stability. The armor adds six more 5mm ports of dubious utility around the feet, retains the four from the cab robot and the eight from the trailer (on the backs of the wings), and has his own pair of 5mm fist holes. In trailer mode, it can support itself using folding blue landing gear, although the attached ball-jointed struts make it somewhat less than realistic.

Although the character was redesigned to some extent, like the other characters in the film, many classic design elements remain in his robot mode including a predominantly red torso, primarily blue legs, the presence of windows in his chest, smoke stacks on his shoulders, and a head design influenced by the original, featuring the iconic faceplate and ear finials. The faceplate is able to retract to reveal a mouth. His weapons include his iconic ion blaster, a Barrage cannon, two retractable energon blades that extend from his forearms, which is a homage to Prime's energy axe in the Generation 1 animated series, and two retractable energon hooks that extend from his wrists. The trailer contains an energy axe, a shield, and flight gear. In the later IDW comics, he displays the ability to produce a holographic driver.

Fire Blast Optimus Prime is a redeco of the previously released Power Hook Optimus Prime fast action battler. The color scheme is loosely based upon Generation One Rodimus Prime, explained rather oddly in the card bio as being the camouflage Optimus took while hunting Decepticons on Mars post-movie. ...Because there are so many longnose cabs driving around Mars. Yeah.

In order to come to some sort of conclusion about the price of LEGO, I needed to get some data on the historic retail prices of LEGO sets. The best source of this information is brickset.com. This website has data on almost all LEGO sets ever made and the retail pricing for many of them. I wrote a web scraping program to go through the Brickset database and make a database of set information. In order to keep the results relevant, I decided to compile one set that fit two basic qualifications:
In the animated series, Optimus is able to fire short-range optic blasts, project holographic maps, and deploy hydro-foils, designed by Wheeljack, to traverse bodies of water with ease. In the animated series, Optimus was also given the ability to retract his right hand unit and replace it with a glowing axe.[7] Across the assorted continuities of the original Transformers universe, there have been various interpretations of Optimus Prime. One of Prime's most notable characteristics over all continuities his unswaying commitment to leadership by example. The animated series's version of Optimus Prime is depicted as a straightforward, wise, and upbeat battlefield general. Additionally, the animated series's version of Optimus dislikes rap music, putting him at odds with music-loving characters like Blaster and Jazz. In the Marvel Comics series, in addition to these characteristics, Prime is secretly plagued by self-doubt and a conflicted sense of pacifism that often makes him an extremely reluctant warrior.
If the Autobots went along with Prowl’s strategy, the resulting heat from the explosion caused the Autobots’ circuits to overheat, rendering them unconscious. Upon reawakening, the Autobots found themselves captives of Megatron, who informed them that their fellow Autobots would soon perish, and that the humans would be conquered by the Decepticons shortly after.
Apparently, early plans for the shield were to have it colored gold and silver, but it was later changed to gray and red. When a hand-painted prototype of the toy was first displayed at the 2013 New York Comic Con, the shield was colored yellow and silver; in addition, the original versions of the official Hasbro stock photos also depict the gold color, but the versions featured on the back of the toy's packaging were edited so they would accurately depict the final toy's colors for the shield. Meanwhile, the versions of the stock photos provided to websites and online retailers depict the shield in its final colors for the robot mode, whereas the vehicle mode photo is the unedited version featuring the shield's original colors. Furthermore, UK-based retailer Argos also featured unedited versions of the stock photos for both modes in one of its catalogs, causing some confusion among fans.[5] Sometimes, the spring loaded "Automorph" feature in his head is too strong and causes the head to fly off...
For Transformers: Age of Extinction, Optimus Prime initially transforms into a rusty 1973 Marmon semi cab-over truck and later on a new alternate mode in a blue and red Western Star 5700 Custom semi-truck.[31][32] After humanity turns on all Transformers, regardless of faction, Optimus and the other Autobots go into hiding. Eventually, they find themselves being hunted by a rogue organization called Cemetery Wind. Optimus is severely injured in a trap set by the group, while many of the other Autobots, including Ratchet and Leadfoot, are slain. An inventor, Cade Yeager, comes to Prime's aid and helps restore his health. After uniting with a small band of Autobots, Optimus faces Lockdown, a ruthless bounty hunter allied with the humans, and KSI, an organization that produces man-made Transformers. Optimus is captured by Lockdown, but the Autobots rescue him. Optimus is quickly losing faith in humanity, but at the urging of Cade, chooses to stay and fight a resurrected Megatron and his new army. Prime awakens the ancient Dinobots, and rides a newly tamed Grimlock into battle through Hong Kong. He kills Lockdown and Harold Attinger at the film's climax as revenge for killing many of his friends, including Ratchet and Leadfoot. At the end of the film, he leaves Earth and flies off into deep space, seeking to find out the truth about his mysterious Creators.[33][34]

The first Nightwatch Optimus Prime is an extensive redeco of the previously released Leader-class Optimus Prime, replacing most of his red and blue with different shades of blue and black. In fact, he resembles the original Diaclone Powered Convoy color scheme of Generation One Ultra Magnus's truck cab. The previously blue and red flames have been replaced with silver flames, as has various other decos, replaced by copper.

Part of the first wave of the "Mini-Con Weaponizers" subline imprint, this One-Step Changer figure of Optimus Prime is a new sculpt. In the Robots in Disguise mobile game, it was identified alternatively as an "Advanced One-Step" or "Evolved One-Step" figure depending on the user's region, but on the toy's packaging, no such modifiers are featured, and it is available as part of the regular One-Step Changer assortment. This figure shares most of its engineering with One-Step Fracture.

On the day before the Transformers GT began, GT-R Prime found himself racing with GT-R Saber when they were both out for a test run. Though Misaki warned him not to get too invested in a practice race, Prime took the challenge seriously and won the race by briefly transforming into robot mode, thus tricking Saber into slowing down in anticipation of a fight. Test Run Battle! –Prelude– Prime earned the pole position for the Transformers GT, but this combined with his victory over Saber made him overconfident, and he was unprepared when Saber attacked him immediately as the race began and sent him flying. First Fast Attack! –Whoever Strikes First Wins– GT-R Megatron also targeted Prime during the course of the race, seeing him as his fated rival. One Shot and One Kill!! –Finishing Blow–

I am so not in for this, it will still look arguably better then MP-01. But the true MP Optimus Prime is MP-10. This new one is all about animation, and the backpack is pretty huge. MP-10 has a built in part for weapon storage... it was not actually needed. Idk about this new direction. I’ve been pretty much exclusively 3rd party and older MP’s. This new style of lavishly G1 animation is not for me. MP-10 was the standard and the perfect blend. For whatever reason Takara is/has been pushing a new direction that a good majority don’t really want to go in on. See Transformers 3rd party market. If there wasn’t a itch that needed scratching it wouldn’t exist.

Although the character was redesigned to some extent, like the other characters in the film, many classic design elements remain in his robot mode including a predominantly red torso, primarily blue legs, the presence of windows in his chest, smoke stacks on his shoulders, and a head design influenced by the original, featuring the iconic faceplate and ear finials. The faceplate is able to retract to reveal a mouth. His weapons include his iconic ion blaster stored in the form of the fuel tanks on his back, and a shell cannon stored on his back, two retractable energon blades that extend from both forearms, which is a homage to Prime's energy axe in the Generation 1 animated series, two retractable energon hooks on both of his forearms, and bladed knuckles. The trailer contains an energy axe, a shield, and flight gear. In the later IDW comics, he displays the ability to produce a holographic driver.

The Autobots gained a human ally in their quest when they befriended Doctor Osamu Kihara of the Governmental Special Diplomatic Agency, who provided more assistance than they could have imagined when his son, Akira, was discovered to be a "Booster", one of many legendary beings born with the ability to control and detect the energies of the Energon Cube. Alas, the Decepticons had followed Prime's Autobots to Earth, and Megatron sought the boy's powers for his own. To protect Optimus Prime and himself, Akira unleashed the full extent of his powers, driving Megatron back, but causing his body to burn out and disintegrate. Prime was wracked with guilt over what had occurred, and it would haunt him afterward. Time of Resurrection
Optimus Prime has appeared in numerous video games since the introduction of the Transformers series. He makes a cameo in the 1999 Beast Wars Transmetals video game for Nintendo 64, where he is killed by Megatron at the end of the campaign, showing what would have happened in the Beast Wars series with a Predacon victory. Prime is also one of the playable characters in the 2003 Japan-only Transformers game for the PlayStation 2 and the 2010 Transformers: War for Cybertron. Optimus Prime is also playable in the Hasbro Net Jet Transformers fighting game Transformers Battle Universe. Three versions of Optimus Prime are playable characters, including the first generation incarnation, his incarnations from the 2007 live-action film, and the incarnation from Transformers Animated. In this game, Optimus Primal is also a playable character. He is a regular character in the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 2003 fighting game DreamMix TV World Fighters. He appeared as a boss in a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site.[25]
Never one to give up, Optimus managed to down Devastator in return, only to find himself at Megatron's mercy. The Decepticon leader pointed out to him the humans' self-obsessed behavior in the face of the devastation, suggesting the fleshlings were worthless, and the Autobots should join the Decepticons in wiping them out. Prime Directive #5 The heroic actions of a team of firefighters and other humans proved to Optimus that the humans were worth saving, and the Autobots delivered a smackdown on the Decepticons. The fight was interrupted by the news that a nuclear missile was inbound, and despite Prime's protests, Superion sacrificed himself intercepting it. Prime recovered from the shock wave to find that the Decepticons had fled. He appealed to Grimlock to return to the Autobot ranks, an offer turned down by the Dinobot. Prime Directive #6
In 2003, Transformers: Armada launched a pivotal new era in the toy line. After several lines of toys produced by one company or the other, Hasbro and Takara united to produce what was purported to be a single, identical line of Transformers for release worldwide. In tandem with this new endeavor, Armada signaled a new continuity in its accompanying animated series and a new focus in both the show and the toys on Mini-Cons, a new faction of Transformers. The Mini-Cons were much smaller robots (not much larger than humans) who were neutral in the Autobot/Decepticon fight, but due to their incredible power and abilities, were sought by both factions.
Having been removed from toy store shelves after 1985, Optimus Prime was made available as a mail-away toy in the "Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction" offer in the US in 1986 to coincide with the Transformers movie premiering that year. He cost $21.50 and 5 Robot Points. He was also offered in 'The Autobots Have A Special Mission For...' mail-away pamphlet and came with a special "Movie Edition Certificate" and a round sticker that read " Movie . Edition . Transformer" with the Autobot symbol in the middle. (This item is considered rare.)

"Garbage Truck" is a redeco of the same Optimus Prime toy in blue and white, a common coloration for Japanese garbage trucks that bears ends up bearing a coincidental resemblance to the Bot Shots Polar Assault Team Optimus. His stickers now picture his truck mode being loaded with garbage, his truck mode driving around, and the word "cleaning" in both English and Japanese.

Part of the first wave of battle upgrade Hero Mashers toys, Optimus is a non-transforming robot who can swap any of his parts out with other Hero Mashers figure to create many combinations. He includes his iconic Energon axe, a large projectile-launching gun, another large gun, two missile packs, and an arm for Ultra Magnus. Optimus Prime also has a pointing right hand, which allows you to do a certain Optimus Prime pose in a Dreamwave Productions comic.
This release of the Japanese Super Ginrai version of the of Powermaster Optimus Prime was a Toys R Us Japan exclusive black repaint, made to represent the original Convoy/Optimus Prime equipped for a special mission. All of his red and blue plastics were changed to black, his clear blue windows were now tinted red, making his overall colour scheme very reminiscent of the now-familiar 'Black Convoy' colour schemes.
Power of the Primes "Evolution Optimus Prime" transforms from a truck with a trailer into a robot and back. The individual truck transforms into his "Orion Pax" form based on his appearance in the Generation 1 episode "War Dawn", and he is able to form the core of Optimus Prime's robot mode. His trailer forms Prime's entire body, and his ion blaster can be split into two weapons. He includes the Matrix of Leadership, which can store in his chest in the 'Evolved' form. The center of his Matrix of Leadership can be replaced with any Prime Master. In an undocumented feature, his rifle can be stored on his back as Optimus Prime by pegging it into Orion Pax's hands.The Takara version of the mold lacks the production numbers located at his right shins. Depending on the individual copy, Optimus Prime is prone to having a number of quality control issues: ranging from two left/right arms and/or legs/feet on the evolution armor, to lacking stickers on the trailer pieces.
Power Surge Optimus Prime's scannable Autobot insignia is on his robot mode left shoulder. As he's packaged in robot mode, this badge is easily scannable while still in-package. Like his wavemate Bumblebee, this figure eventually saw release in the 11th wave of the Warrior Class line with the "Combiner Force" packaging. His scannable sticker is also altered, but scanning the badge only unlocks Energon currency, but not the character. This also applies to the original release's badge, but it unlocks 8 Ultra Sparks instead.

Platinum Edition Optimus Prime was only available as part of a 2-pack with Megatron, named "One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall" after Optimus Prime's famous line in the movie. In the United States and Canada, this set was officially released as an Amazon exclusive. It was also available in several of Hasbro's Asian markets (namely the Philippines and Singapore; it's currently unknown whether it was exclusive to any particular stores there or not). In Australia, it was sold at Myer stores, whereas in the United Kingdom, it was both sold at Toys"R"Us stores and available via Tesco's website (but never found in stores). Surprisingly, it was (and still is) a common find in Brazilian online stores.

A Deluxe-sized figure sold only in Japan and Asian markets by Takara Tomy. The package consists of a highly poseable skeletal frame called a Core Body, along with parts to assemble the Core Body to either a Protoform mode or robot mode. In Protoform, the figure can transform into an atmospheric Entry Mode. The figure with robot parts is able to fully transform into vehicle mode.[87]
When Vector Prime reminisced on some of the highlights of his multiversal career, he remembered many events involving Optimus Prime. Among these events was Optimus Prime using the Matrix of Leadership on the Hate Plague, Shockwave taunting a disembodied Optimus Prime, and Megatron firing on the head of Optimus Prime, creating a time storm that necessitated Vector Prime's intervention to ensure Optimus Prime's survival. Vector Prime: In the Beginning
Optimus Prime appears in the Transformers live-action film series as the leader of the Autobots and one of the main protagonists. In the first three films, he is able to transform into a conventional Peterbilt 379 cab, rather than the cab over design of his original Generation 1 body. In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, he gains a first generation-style trailer form before changing into a 2014 Western Star 5700 Concept.[29] Also straying from the G1 design, Prime's vehicle mode is now decorated with red flames painted onto a blue body à la Rodimus Prime, his Generation 1 successor. The reason for the change was due to Director Michael Bay's decree that mass displacement does not occur when they transform, requiring Optimus's vehicle form to have more mass to achieve the desired size in his robot form.
It took two further years, but this figure was eventually released as part of the Japanese counterpart to the Alternators line (Binaltech) in 2008. Binaltech Convoy features some additional paint details, like his silver pelvis, additional patterns on his shoulders, and red paint on his engine-gun, and like all Binaltech figures, he also includes die-cast metal pieces. Unlike previous Binaltech releases, a bio-card was not included.
French die-cast model producers Majorette teamed with Kabaya to produce the Transformers Mini Car Collection, a line of Armada-themed die-cast vehicles, all of which were redecos of pre-existing Majorette toys. Prime was a redeco of Majorette toy #256—a long-nosed tow truck—in his traditional red and blue, now bearing the Autobot insignia, the Micron Legend logo, and an image of the Autobot leader on its hood. The toy came with a pack of gum.
This toy's design has directly and indirectly influenced numerous others over the years, including many future versions of Generation One Optimus Prime himself as well as new interpretations of the character for Armada, the live-action movie, and Transformers Animated. Redecos of those toys have in turn spread the toy's iconic look to several other characters and many of their subsequent toys: Ultra Magnus, Scourge, and the various Nemesis Primes. Additionally, a toy that was originally intended to be the original Optimus Prime was eventually retconned to be the new character Optimus Primal, bringing Prime's appearance over to that character (and eventually Primal Prime as well.) In Japan, this began a tradition of Beast Era Convoys emulating Prime's look, spawning still more toys that trace part of their lineage back to this one.
Really great, well-researched article. I think you hit the nail on the head here – the fact that there are more expensive sets than ever before affects perception. Also, I’m pretty sure the presence of a baseplate (light but large) in the old sets made them seem bigger. I don’t like the lack of baseplates in new sets – it does make them seem smaller.
Power of the Primes "Evolution Optimus Prime" transforms from a truck with a trailer into a robot and back. The individual truck transforms into his "Orion Pax" form based on his appearance in the Generation 1 episode "War Dawn", and he is able to form the core of Optimus Prime's robot mode. His trailer forms Prime's entire body, and his ion blaster can be split into two weapons. He includes the Matrix of Leadership, which can store in his chest in the 'Evolved' form. The center of his Matrix of Leadership can be replaced with any Prime Master. In an undocumented feature, his rifle can be stored on his back as Optimus Prime by pegging it into Orion Pax's hands.The Takara version of the mold lacks the production numbers located at his right shins. Depending on the individual copy, Optimus Prime is prone to having a number of quality control issues: ranging from two left/right arms and/or legs/feet on the evolution armor, to lacking stickers on the trailer pieces.
The TakaraTomy version, part of the first wave of Movie Advanced Series toys, is dubbed "Classic Optimus Prime", and opts for a deco closer to Prime's previous on-screen appearances, omitting the blue paint on his feet and hands to reveal the gray plastic underneath, and adding new paint details all over. Instead of painting it in clear light blue, his light-piping eyes is neutered with opaque light blue paint. In terms of quality control, at least one sample has missing it's silver paint on the head's left cheek.
The Hot Rod from the future animated movie continuity would also appear. Target: 2006 had Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr timejump from 2006 (specifically partway through the Transformers movie) to 1986 to thwart Galvatron's scheme, under the influence of Unicron; later post-movie stories revealed that Firebolt had died on Earth years before 2007, and Space Pirates had Rodimus Prime briefly reverting to Hot Rod during the Quintesson attack on Autobot City. This Hot Rod also appeared in several of the "Aspects of Evil" stories. Told from the flashbacks of an aged Rodimus Prime, these had Hot Rod come up against some of the greatest Decepticon villains. He accepted the surrender of Scorponok - only to wind up defending him and a human town against the Micromaster Air Strike Patrol: defending Autobot City from a full-scale attack by Shockwave: and being captured and used as a pawn by Megatron to flush out an Autobot spy in his ranks. (Marvel UK #223-227)
EZ Collection Gum Convoy is another redeco of Generations Legends Class Motorbreath, featuring the retooled parts, but this time omitting the sword. He is decoed once again in his Generation 2 colors (see above), with the black legs, but uses metallic red plastic, and is coated in metallic red, blue, and black paint. As per the toyline's name, he comes with a yellow candy-shelled piece of lemony-flavored gum.
Part of the first wave of Generations: Combiner Wars Voyager Class toys, this is a bigger, bulkier incarnation of Optimus Prime with a striking resemblance to Ginrai. He comes with two blasters which he holds via 5mm post. One of the guns is based on his trademark Ion Blaster, and both weapons store on the back of his vehicle mode as a makeshift engine block. His torso mode has several details that appear to be influenced by Energon Optimus Prime's super mode, including the head, chest, and thighs. In particular, the chest details are modeled after the Spark of Combination. He also features two pair of fake windows on his robot and gestalt chest halves. The combiner head can be used as a robot mode head if you're feeling silly.
The live-action Transformers movie was slated to premiere in the U.S. on July 3, 2007, and was a joint collaboration among DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, Inc. Paramount Pictures was slated to release the film in the United States, as it had by now made DreamWorks Pictures one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, and was also to be responsible for the international release of the film through United International Pictures, its joint venture with Universal Studios. The feature was directed by Michael Bay from a screenplay written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. It was a new story, set apart from the previous incarnations of the cartoon(s) and comic(s). A new origin and characters were introduced. Steven Spielberg, who with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen had established DreamWorks SKG, was the main executive producer of the film, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy serving as co-executive producers. In practice, this meant that they were the primary financial sponsors of the film.
Unlike previous Convoy toys, the cab section did not separate from the trailer, instead forming the arms of his imposing 12-inch tall robot mode. He lacks any sort of leg articulation in this mode, but his battery powered treads can provide him with locomotion. Star Convoy's chest can open to reveal a control center for Micromaster figures such as his partner figure Hot Rodimus to ride in.
The Japanese release of the figure also underwent the changes in weapon shapes, but never featured a silver Roller; instead, their original release of Prime featured a Diaclone-style Roller without the two rear pegs, and the differently-shaped launcher that accommodated him, before a running change switched over to the Hasbro version of the mold. Finally, in some European countries, Prime sported red feet, as opposed to his traditional blue; this version of the figure is also known in some cases to feature a differently-painted forehead crest which leaves the three central indentations unpainted blue.